November 2011 OPA Extern Profile: Stephanie Kleyman

Hobbies: Entomology, riding my motorcycle, throwing BBQ’s on game days

How did you get interested in the profession of pharmacy? When I was in college, I took care of my grandmother. She was 90, deaf and was too much to handle for most of my family members, but we got along splendidly. Needless to say, I knew her pharmacist. He was a good guy, and very VERY patient with her.

I admired what he did, and I figured if I was good with grandma, I could do what he did. I figured I would be good at being a pharmacist.

Why did you choose OPA as a rotation? If I hadn’t have chosen pharmacy school, I would have been a lawyer, hands down. I started going to school in Missouri for a dual major in philosophy. I would love to work in regulation, or policy; I think I would be happy working for either the private or the public sector.

I have a great respect for the law, and I feel that most people don’t understand how much the law touches their everyday lives. The law is created for the protection of real people, and it should be two things- well written and understandable. I felt OPA was an obvious choice.

What was the most significant or surprising experience at OPA? The most surprising thing I observed was how much OPA does with such little staff. It was (and still is) hard to believe that the whole state’s organization rests upon a staff with a few full-timers and a few part-timers. I never knew how much networking went on.

The most significant experience I had was the OHIP meeting. This high cost, HHS funded initiative was amazing to sit in. To hear how these big decisions that affect my profession are made was incredibly interesting (and surprising!).

I do know this- my experience sitting in OHIP and the OPA committees has persuaded me to become involved in the pharmacy organization of whichever state I land in.